Mature Buddhist practitioners have always sought ways to take the Buddha's teachings of compassionate presence, open-heartedness, and wisdom into their communities. Many have chosen to combine these qualities with professional chaplaincy to comfort those who are suffering and in need of spiritual care. 

After several efforts to bring us together the last few years, we now offer the Buddhist Chaplains Network in order to build community among Buddhists committed  to spiritual care giving. We hope this network will help you in your pursuit to become a better skilled, trained Buddhist chaplain and that our building community will enrich us all so we may be of greater benefit to others.

Our numbers as Buddhist spiritual caregivers are growing, but the need for more Buddhists serving in spiritual care capacities is growing faster. Hospitals, hospice programs, medical facilities and clinics, non-profit emergency organizations, prisons, police departments, juvenile courts, military, social justice programs and a wealth of other institutions are in need of educated and trained Buddhist chaplains.

If you are a Buddhist chaplain, please consider sharing your voice, insight, experience and questions with us.  You are welcomed to contribute in a way you see fit.  Please see our Contact Us page, and tell share with us how you would like  to participate. 

We honor, support and want to nurture chaplaincy abilities among us.  We believe that in community we can learn much from each other, communicate significant events occurring in the chaplaincy discipline, and better manifest the generous, virtuous wisdom taught by the Buddha.

Metta with hands clasped and head bowed.

The BuddhistChaplainsNetwork.org serves the educational and informational needs of Buddhist chaplains and spiritual care givers and provides leadership to help ensure the growth, development, collaboration, community, dialogue and communication among Buddhist chaplains.   

  Serve as a clearinghouse for the Buddhist spiritual care community.

  Create a network of Buddhist spiritual caregivers to connect us with our peers throughout the West.

  Provide access to education and training resources for Buddhist spiritual care.

  Provide a means of sharing best practices, such as rituals and ceremonies of the different Buddhist faith traditions, prayers and blessings.

  Provide information and links for those practicing chaplaincy in various settings, e.g. hospitals, prisons, hospices, etc.

  Serve as a liaison on certification issues with the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) and the Association of Certified Pastoral Educators (ACPE).

  Provide Dharma teachers, sanghas and monasteries with information about Buddhist chaplains and spiritual care givers.

  Help us better serve the many traditions and lineages of Buddhism with appropriate spiritual care.

  Encourage and support those interested in entering the field.

The BuddhistChaplainsNetwork.org is an offshoot of our ongoing efforts to create community among the diverse Buddhist Spiritual Care community.  It is a work-in-progress.  We welcome your feedback, participation and contributions.  Please see the Contact Us page for more information about how you can participate.

An Interview with the BCN Founder

Lori Hefner